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U.S. a net beef importer, more often than not
Story Date: 6/19/2012
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Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 6/19/12
April beef exports were more than 200 million pounds — the first time this level has been eclipsed in 2012 — but imports were slightly higher, noted Ron Plain, agricultural economics professor at the University of Missouri, in his weekly Cattle Outlook analysis.
April, then, was the third month of the past four in which the U.S. was a net importer of beef, Plain noted. On the other hand, the U.S. was a net beef exporter for every month from September 2010 to December 2011.
Beef supplies for the domestic market (production adjusted for net trade) for the first four months of 2012 were 0.6 percent higher than for the same period in 2011.
That small increase can’t be the only driving force behind declining retail prices: The choice beef retail price declined in May for the third time in four months, Plain wrote, and the May price was only 1.9 percent above year-ago level. The January 2012 retail price, on the other hand, was 12.1 percent above year-ago levels.
Indeed, the declines in the retail case are not unique to beef: Pork and poultry retail prices have declined in recent months as well.
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